~ also known by its English alternate title The Reign of Greed.

~ second novel written by Philippine national hero José Rizal.

~ It is the sequel to Noli Me Tangere and like the first book, was written in Spanish.

“To me El Filibusterismo as a novel is inferior to the Noli, so I receive with a grain of salt the opinion of those who tell me that the El Fili is superior

to the Noli.”

– Jose Rizal

• El Filibusterismo, the second of José Rizal’s novels of Philippine life, is a story of the last days of the Spanish régime in the Philippines.

• Rizal had to define the word filibustero to his German friend Ferdinand Blumentritt, who did not understand his use of the word in Noli Me Tangere.

Rizal explained:

"The word filibustero is little known in the Philippines. The masses do not know it yet. I heard it for the first time in 1872 when the tragic executions (of the Gomburza) took place. I still remember the panic that this word created.

The Manila newspapers and the Spaniards apply this word to one whom they want to make a revolutionary suspect. The Filipinos belonging to the educated class fear the reach of the word.

It does not have the meaning of freebooters; it rather means a dangerous patriot who will soon be hanged or well, a presumptuous man."

By the end of the nineteenth century, the word filibustero had acquired the meaning "subversive" in the Philippines, hence the book is about subversion.

Rizal searched for a printing house which offer him lowest quotation for printing the novel. He did find a publisher – F. Meyer-Van Loo Press, No. 66 Viaanderen Street – who was willing to print his book on small partial payments.

F. Meyer-Van Loo Press, No. 66 Viaanderen Street

On August 6, the printing had to be suspended, as Rizal feared, because he could no longer give the necessary funds to the printer and leave the book halfway.

Fortunately, Rizal was not to remain in despair for long. A compatriot, Valentin Ventura, learned of Rizal’s predicament. He offered him financial assistance. Even then Rizal’s was forced to shorten the novel quite drastically, leaving only thirty-eight chapters compared to the sixty-four chapters of the first novel.

Valentin Ventura

On September 18, 1891, El Filibusterismo came off the press.Rizal, now a very happy man, immediately sent that same day two copies to Hongkong – one for Basa and other for Sixto Lopez. He gratefully gave the original manuscript of El Filibusterismo and a printed copy with his autograph.

Filipino patriots in foreign lands and in the Philippines praised the novel to the skies.

Practically all copies of the first edition (Ghent Edition) of El Filibusterismo were placed in wooden boxes and shipped to Hongkong, but almost all the boxes were confiscated and the books were lost. So it came to pass that the book immediately became rare, and the few available Ghent copies were sold at very high prices, reaching as 400 pesetas per copy.

The book is dedicated to the memory of the Gomburza.

"To the memory of the priests, Don Mariano Gomez (85 years old), Don Jose Burgos (30 years old), and Don Jacinto Zamora (35 years old). Executed in the Bagumbayan Field on the 28th of February, 1872."

Gomburza

The original Manuscript of El Filibusterismo in Rizal’s own handwriting is now preserved in the Filipiniana Division of the Bureau of Public Libraries, Manila. It had been acquired by the Philippine Government from Valentin Ventura for P10,000. It consists of 279 pages of long sheets of paper.

This novel is a bitter cry of a suffering soul.It has little humor, less idealism, and less romance as what we find in Noli Me Tangere.It is more revolutionary, more tragic than the first novel.

Nagsimula ito sa isang paglalakbay ng bapor sa pagitan ng Maynila at Laguna. Kabilang sa mga pasahero ang mag-aalahas na si Simoun, si Isagani, at si Basilio. Labintatlong taon na ang nakalipas mula nang mamatay si Elias at si Sisa.

Nakarating si Basilio sa San Diego at sa isang makasaysayang pagtatagpo ay nakita niya si Simoun na pagdalaw sa libingan ng kanyang ina sa loob ng libingan ng mga Ibarra. Nakilala niyang si Simoun ay si Ibarra na nagbabalatkayo; Upang maitago ang ganitong lihim, ay tinangka ni Simoun na patayin si Basilio. Nang hindi ito naituloy ay hinikayat niya ang binata na makiisa sa kanyang layuning maghiganti sa Pamahalaang Kastila. Si Basilio ay tumanggi dahil gusto niyang matapos ang kanyang pag-aaral.

Si Simuon ay nakipagkita kay Basilio at muling hinikayat ang binatang umanib sa binabalak niyang paghihimagsik at mangulo sa isang pulutong na sapilitang magbubukas sa kumbento ng Sta. Clara upang agawin si Maria Clara. Subali't hindi naibunsod ang ganitong gawain dahil sa si Maria Clara'y namatay na nang hapong yaon.

Upang maisagawa ni Simoun ang kanyang balak na paghihiganti, ay nakipagsama siya sa negosyo kay Don Timoteo Pelaez, ang ama ni Juanito. Sa ganitong paraan ay nagawa niyang maipagkasundo ang kasal nina Juanito at Paulita Gomez. Ang magiging ninong sa kasal ay ang Kapitan Heneral. Naanyayahan din niya upang dumalo sa piging na idaraos, ang mga may matatas na katungkulan sa Pamahalaan at mga litaw na tao sa lunsod.

MgaTauhan

Ang manyak

at mukhang artilyeron

g pari

Padre Camorra

Thanks for Listening!

-Group IV